Dave Duncan (baseball)

David Edwin Duncan (born September 26, 1945) is an American former professional baseball catcher and pitching coach who is currently a pitching consultant for the Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He began his MLB playing career in 1964 and played again consecutively from 1967 to 1976 for the Kansas City/Oakland Athletics, Cleveland Indians, and Baltimore Orioles.

After retiring as a player, Duncan served as the pitching coach for the Indians, Seattle Mariners, Chicago White Sox, Athletics, and St. Louis Cardinals. Four pitchers he coached won the Cy Young Award in 1983, 1990, 1992, and 2005. He was also a member of four World Series champion teams in 1972, 1989, 2006, and 2011. Each year from 1983 to 2011, Duncan worked with former manager Tony La Russa on the White Sox, Athletics, and Cardinals. Following the 2013 season, he became a pitching consultant for the Diamondbacks.

Duncan was signed as an amateur free agent by the Kansas City Athletics in 1963, as a 17-year-old out of Crawford High School in San Diego. In his first at-bat as a professional baseball player, he hit a home run for the Daytona Beach Islanders of the Florida State League. Duncan made his major league debut on May 6, 1964 at the age of 18, becoming the youngest player in the American League at the time. He was kept in the majors to protect him from being drafted by another team under baseball rules.

Duncan returned to the minor leagues for the next two seasons, first with the Lewiston Broncs in the Single-A Northwest League in Lewiston, Idaho. Midway through the 1965 season, Rick Monday joined the team. A 19-year-old sophomore center fielder with Arizona State, Monday had led the Sun Devils to the 1965 College World Series title on June 12 and was the first pick in the first major league draft four days earlier. After the season, Duncan and Monday entered boot camp with the U.S. Marine Corps in San Diego in September.

The following year in 1966, Duncan led the California League with 46 home runs in 121 games for the Modesto Reds, the A's affiliate. The second pick in the 1966 MLB draft was another Arizona State center fielder, 20-year-old Reggie Jackson. He played two weeks in Lewiston then joined Duncan in Modesto in early July, and kept pace with 21 homers in 56 games.

Duncan began the 1967 season with the Birmingham A's but, was brought back up to the major leagues in early June. When his batting average dropped to a .194 in early July, he was returned to Birmingham to work on his hitting. When his hitting showed signs of improvement, Duncan returned to the major leagues in September, along with Jackson and Joe Rudi.

Athletics' team owner Charlie Finley moved the franchise west to Oakland for the 1968 season, but Duncan started the season with the Vancouver Mounties of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. He was called up to the majors in June when catcher Jim Pagliaroni suffered a broken arm and went on the disabled list. Duncan went on to catch the majority of the team's games in 1968. While he possessed good defensive skills, he only managed to hit for a .191 batting average. His batting average fell further to .126 in 1969 and Phil Roof took over as the Athletic's main catcher. Duncan's hitting improved in 1970 to a career-high .259 batting average along with 10 home runs and 29 runs batted in as, he shared catching duties with Frank Fernández and Gene Tenace, who was called up to the major leagues late in the season. He also missed time due to his commitment to the military reserves. When Duncan made adverse comments about Finley during the season, the owner fired Athletics manager John McNamara in October for failing to control his players, despite the team's second-place finish in the American League Western Division.

The 1971 season saw Duncan become the Athletics main catcher, as he guided their pitching staff to finish second in the league in earned run average as well as in strikeouts. Duncan was the catcher for two 20-game winners in 1971, as Vida Blue won 24 games and Catfish Hunter won 21 games. His offense continued to improve, hitting 10 home runs by mid-season and, was selected as a reserve on the 1971 American League All-Star team, replacing Ray Fosse who missed the game due to an injury. Duncan finished the season with a .253 average with 15 home runs, 40 runs batted in while leading American League catchers in range factor. The Athletics would win the American League Western Division but, were defeated by the Baltimore Orioles in the 1971 American League Championship Series.